DK Shivakumar featured in full page newspaper ad, Congress defends move

A full page paid advertorial in an English newspaper, the Deccan Herald, on July 2 sang praises of Karnataka Congress President DK Shivakumar. The page with the title 'A life in leadership’ has several articles hailing Shivakumar as a ‘harbinger of change’ and has columns on work done by Shivakumar during the pandemic. While the Congress has officially said there is nothing out of the ordinary in this, many leaders are uncomfortable with the self-promotion of a leader over party, sources said.

Seven articles in the page have titles like 'DKS, always in the forefront for public welfare', 'Assistance for families of Covid victims’, 'Aid for migrant workers’ travel' and 'Guidance for government' among others. Sources in the Congress tell TNM that this move was suggested and executed by the political PR company handling DK Shivakumar’s public image. 

Congress spokesperson Lavanya Ballal told TNM that there is nothing new in such advertisements and that it is “normal for politicians and political parties to let people know about the work they have done”. “Seva is our dharma and DKS has been taking it forward. It’s been a year since he officially took charge on July 2, 2020. We are seeing a huge increase in the enthusiasm of the party cadre after he took over as the President. Not much needs to be read into the ads,” Lavanya said.

But, sources say that such a huge display of his leadership is the direct result of the ongoing internal rivalry to be projected as the CM face of the Congress for the 2023 Assembly elections. With two camps of leaders lobbying for Siddaramaiah and Shivakumar to be announced as the CM face, a third group is now demanding for a Dalit leader to be announced. In view of this, the full page ad was intended to portray the work that DK Shivakumar has done as the Pradesh Congress Committee President.

“He is being praised for the work of the Congress party. Yes, as the President, many activities were undertaken by him during the pandemic but boasting about it as personal victories shows his insecurities. Many leaders are uncomfortable with this,” a Congress leader told TNM.